Notre Dame, Brey agree on 10-year extension

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey reacts over a foul call while taking on Akron during the first round of the NCAA tournament. (William DeShazer / Tribune Photo)

Mike Brey hasn't lately demonstrated any interest in leaving Notre Dame, a place he views as an ideal fit. And now he probably never will.

The Irish men's basketball coach has agreed to a contract extension, the school announced Monday, with a source telling the Tribune that the deal will run for 10 years.

That massive commitment theoretically will keep the 53-year-old Brey, who has led the Irish to six straight 20-win seasons and nine straight overall, on the sidelines through the end of his career.

He has been at Notre Dame for 12 seasons, three times earning Big East coach of the year honors while compiling a 124-75 record in league play and essentially resuscitating a program that was a non-factor upon his arrival. The 27 wins that the Irish managed in the 2010-11 season were the most-ever in the modern era of the program.

The 2011-12 Notre Dame squad was some of his finest work, as he lost leading returning scorer Tim Abromaitis to a torn ACL in November and still coaxed an NCAA tournament berth out of a young, unproven squad -- even serving then-unbeaten, top-ranked Syracuse its first defeat of the season along the way.

And while the stinging first-round loss added to the program's March shortcomings -- the Irish have not been to the Sweet 16 since 2003 -- Brey returns all five starters from last season while adding transfer center Garrick Sherman and top 50 freshman Cameron Biedscheid to a unit that will be among the Big East favorites next season.

In an interview with the Tribune last March, Brey conceded he considered starting fresh during a string of NIT bids in the middle of his Notre Dame tenure -- but then came to the conclusion that he would attempt to be a lifer in South Bend.

The Maryland native and former DeMatha Catholic High School player and coach even declined to speak with Maryland about its coaching vacancy following Gary Williams' retirement. There was talk even then of Brey working on a long-term deal with Notre Dame.

"When I got hired, I said, I hope I'm good enough to retire here," Brey said last March. "And I really firmly believe that's really never changed for me.

"After the third NIT (in 2006), I actually thought to myself, maybe you just go reinvent…Matter of fact, N.C. State offered me the job. I remember talking to (wife) Tish: What do you think? We love Raleigh-Durham, maybe we go back there. What the heck, it's been a great run here.

That was probably the only time…George Blaha, the voice of the Pistons, was here for the (Adrian) Dantley (Ring of Honor induction). He said to me: 'You are Notre Dame basketball.' It's my program now. You have an identity. I really feel we have it at that point. And I feel with what we have coming, can we break barriers? Breaking some barriers that way is kind of the challenge now."